Saturday, William and Mary took on DePaul at the Millie West Tennis Facility in Williamsburg. The Tribe (2-12) entered this game after a home 5-1 loss to Middle Tennessee the previous weekend. The match against the Blue Demons (10-10) was crucial in gaining back some momentum after its two-game win streak was snapped. Indeed, the College was successful, getting back on track with a 4-3 victory.
First up was the doubles round, where three one-set matches took place between the Tribe and the visiting Blue Demons. At the No. 3 spot, sophomore Sebastian Quiros and sophomore Finbar Talcott of the Collegefaced Conor O’Meara and Luuk Wassenaar of DePaul. This was the first match to finish, with O’Meara and Wassenaar ending the set with a dominant 6-3 win over the Tribe.
At the No. 2 slot, which was the second match to finish, the Tribe was more successful. Senior Tristan Bautil and freshman Oren Vasser played against DePaul’s Vito Tonejc and Fran Tonejc. Bautil and Vasser were able to come out on top in this match, with a 6-3 win over the Blue Demons.
No. 1 was the last match to finish, and therefore served as the tiebreaker for the doubles round, which had been tied at 1-1. In this match, junior Brenden Volk and sophomore Chen Ruo faced off against Boris Spanjaard and Christopher Casati of DePaul. It was in this match that the Tribe ultimately lost the doubles round with Spanjaard and Casati finishing with a score of 7(8)-6(6), the Blue Demons now taking a 1-0 lead over the Tribe in the team contest.
The singles round then began, offering a chance for redemption for the Tribe. The first match to finish was at No. 5, which featured College freshman Jack Kelly squaring off against DePaul’s Tamas Zador. Kelly and Zador played two sets, with Zador winning both and therefore the match. At this point, the Tribe needed to answer after the Blue Demons had taken a 2-0 lead.
At the No. 2 spot, Volk battled it out against Wassenaar, who was coming off a win in the doubles round. Volk was able to deliver a decisive victory when the Tribe needed it the most, winning both the first and second sets 6-1. Another dominant performance was given by the Tribe at the No. 4 slot, where Vasser won both sets 6-2 over Casati. With Volk and Vasser’s crucial wins, the College was able to equalize the Blue Demons at a score of 2-2.
It did not come as easily for the Tribe at No. 1, as Quiros faced off against Vito Tonejc, both of them coming off of losses in the doubles round. Ultimately, Quiros fell after two sets, the first of which finished at 6-4 while the second ended 6-3. With this loss, the Tribe was once again behind DePaul at a score of 3-2. At the No. 6 slot, Ruo battled against DePaul junior Tripp Tuff for three sets. In the first set Ruo won 7-5, and in the second set Tuff won 6-1. In the third set, Ruo was able to come out on top by delivering a decisive 6-3 win over Tuff. Ruo and the Tribe once again equalized the score, this time at 3-3.
At this point, the attention turned to No. 3, where Talcott faced off against Fran Tonejc. The match went to three sets, with the first set being won by Fran Tonejc 7-5, while the second went to Talcott 6-4. Ultimately, the third set was won by Talcott 6-3, and the Tribe got itsfinal point to get the win over DePaul 4-3.
Overall, DePaul won two singles matches and two of the doubles matches, while the College won four singles matches and one doubles match. Coming off this close win, the Tribe will host Georgetown in Williamsburg April 2nd at 3pm.